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Pads and Tampons are NOT Luxury Products!

Tell Mississippi and Alabama that feminine hygiene products should not be taxed!

Goal:30,000•Progress:949

Sponsored by:The Hunger Site

In the United States, food, medical supplies, and other necessities, are often exempt from state sales tax. Many items that don't seem quite "necessary" fall into this tax-free category, including items like sunscreen, Rogaine, and anti-dandruff shampoo.

But in many states, feminine hygiene products are taxed and therefore seen as non-essential, luxury items.

Women know this is not the case. Menstruation is a fact of life for most women, and products like pads, tampons, and menstrual cups are essential to protecting health and sanitation. They are not optional, so why aren't they exempt from tax?

President Obama said in the article "So Tampons Are Taxed, But Rogaine Isnt? What You Need to Know About the Recent "Tampon Tax" Lawsuit" by Vogue: "I have no idea why states would tax these as luxury items. I suspect its because men were making the laws when those taxes were passed."

Adding insult to injury is the fact that due to the wage gap, women make approximately 79 cents for every dollar a male colleague earns for the same work. Not only are women being taxed for essential hygiene products, they have less money to spend than their male counterparts.

While some states have ended this unfair taxation of women, still many other persist. Tell the two states tied for being worst for women in the United States according to statusofwomendata.org, Mississippi and Alabama, that their discriminatory taxation must end!

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To the Mississippi Department of Revenue and the Alabama Department of Revenue,

I am writing to you today to bring attention to discriminatory taxation currently being practiced by your respective states.

As you are no doubt aware, the United States exempts certain products determined to be "necessities" from taxation. This includes items like sunscreen, Rogaine, and anti-dandruff shampoo which don't seem exactly necessary for daily life. But one class of items is currently taxed despite the fact that millions of women depend on them everyday: feminine hygiene products.

In your states, pads, tampons, and menstrual cups are currently taxable, leading to an unfair tax on all menstruating women. These items are not optional, so why aren't they exempt from tax?

President Obama said in the article So Tampons Are Taxed, But Rogaine Isnt? What You Need to Know About the Recent "Tampon Tax" Lawsuit by Vogue: "I have no idea why states would tax these as luxury items. I suspect its because men were making the laws when those taxes were passed."

Adding insult to injury is the fact that due to the wage gap, women make approximately 79 cents for every dollar a male colleague earns for the same work. Not only are women being taxed for essential hygiene products, they have less money to spend than their male counterparts.

As the two states currently tied for last in their dedication to women's rights and welfare, Mississippi and Alabama both have a long way to go to improve the quality of life of women living within your states. Making feminine hygiene products would be a small but significant step to improving your abysmal records.

Please, do the right thing for women in your state. This discriminatory taxation must end!